Weeding and planting

Another successful day at the Bindaree Terrace Site with the return of Frank to his patch of the Park. Jim was there again along with Kevin,Sue,Ken and a reluctant worker in David. The Summer has been hot and the weeds are giants,the size of many bushes. This may have had a positive side, since as we clear them away we are locating our 2012 plants that have survived and possibly the weeds have offered some protection in the hot and dry summer. As the weeding was the greatest priority, only around 50 plants were given new homes.

It would be great to see more Volunteers at the working days, which will be Tuesday and Saturdays mornings from now on, as the few Regulars are getting a little tired and more senior every day. Some young and fit persons would be welcomed to operate at ground level. Water carriers and Weed Digger outerers are very welcome.

If you have a Group that would participate in a large Group Planting on one or more days that would be very much appreciated as we have 10,000 plants to go out and have only managed 100 in the two days. As to Groups think about- Employer allocated Volunteer days, Scouting (badges), Social, Schools, sporting Groups. A simple Community Work Day is a great team building exercise.Children can bring along Mum and Dad. Maybe they will see a "Yellagonga Volunteerii Humanus" or a "Johnasaurus", if they keep their eyes peeled.

Last Updated on Sunday, 28 April 2013 10:49

Seasons Break_2013

With hopefully the break of the season and with enough rain to dampen the soil, this seasonal event brought forth from their summer hibernation a small group of Yellagonga Volunteerii humanus who became visible in one of their winter haunts at Bindaree Terrace.

Noticeably absent was the leader of the Bindaree group, Frankus Bindaree who is undergoing some necessary rejuvenation and he will hopefully soon be allowed to return to his native habitat, of many years. Jimus Bindaree was his representative on the day and entertained himself in pulling out weeds under which a baby bob tail was hiding, the bobtail moved to another hiding place only to have this also removed. Eventually the two of them arrived at an agreement and their natural fight for territory was resolved. (No bobtails or volunteerii were hurt in this exchange).

When your Roving Reporter called at the Site to witness this annual event it was noted that in addition to Jimus, there were Sueus and Kevinus present whilst communicating with them a glimpse of a shy four legged Johnasuarus volunterii was noted on the outskirts of the area behind the bushes.

My visit was planned to coincide with the Groups feeding time and we all sat around in a circle in the bush and shared some food and water. The Johnasuarus overcame its natural shyness and joined the Group.

In becoming active again the small group managed to clear a reasonable sized area of weeds, lay a section of hopefully weed suppressing plastic and plant out 50 new plants into the damp soil.

Watch out for your opportunity to view and assist the Volunteerii at their various haunts. The Volunteerii are a very social creature as will be seen when they are observed at their haunts, mostly in a group communicating in their particular manner and sharing food and drink. They however are very welcoming of other life forms including Homo sapiens and willingly accept assistance in maintaining their home territory.

Walking report April 2013

Having spent most of the summer sorting out the new  plants in the FOY Nursery it was decided to check out a couple of the FOY Sites in the Park to make sure that all the new plants were going to good homes. Bit like the animal shelters checking out prospective new pet owners.

Bindaree Terrace came up for an inspection first and on entering from Hepburn Avenue it was a bit disappointing at first to see many plants that had passed on in the heat of our summer. Looking with more depth into the area it was noted that there were actually far more survivors that were battling on without a great deal of water in sandy soil. It was noted that the plants in a semi shaded area were surviving with greater success as were those that had gathered a bit of leaf mulch over their roots. The Plants in the hot dry sandy soil which were unprotected to the elements were struggling through in the hope of some respite in the near future from cooler days and some rain.

The overall results of last years planting was very good you just have to look deeper and don’t forget to look up as the Banksias are flowering and the tree canopy is beautiful and green.

One disappointing thing was that the many bamboo stakes in the area had failed to strike and take on any growth. (Only kidding they are there to protect and identify the new plants).

To make a comparison a walk around the Duck Landing Site showed a different picture. Plants planted at a similar time in 2012 were showing quite a lot of growth and fewer lost plants. Some of the new plants were quite advanced.

Once again the bamboo stakes hadn’t taken root and as the plants were now clearly visible they were removed for reuse in 2013.

During planting we had spread a good thickness of bark mulch around the plants and the surrounding area. It was noted that in the mulched area the weeds were almost non existent compared to the area immediately surrounding that had a good growth of weeds.

With the better growth of the new plants and reduced weeds it was resolved that there was a message there for future planting.

So it looks like it will be OK to release some of the new plants to these two Sites.

It is worth the effort to take the time to view the Sites in Summer but take a break from looking for bities at your feet and put your head back and look into the overhead canopy. It is a nice walk from Hepburn Avenue/ Bindaree Site to Bindaree bushland.

Last Updated on Sunday, 28 April 2013 10:49

A great planting effort

Reporting that so far this year Frank and Jim have planted a total of 715 young plants consisting of 27 different species.